Reaching Retribution(100)

Before all my invisibility has disappeared, I start to fight one of the Gadramicks who had moved toward Tom. Tom has always been there for me growing up, and I don’t plan on having that change anytime soon. Like the guys around him, I’ve got his back.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see fire dancing around. Turning in that direction, I see two trees completely engulfed in flames. That has to be Bragden’s or Incendia’s work. They’re creating a distraction, but for what?





Chapter Thirty-One


Ugh, my whole body aches. Keeping my eyes closed, I roll onto my back. I don’t feel like anything is broken, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t broken at one time. Where am I? Opening my eyes, I look up and see…trees. A canopy of tree leaves is all I can see. I’m in the middle of the forest? I push myself up, ignoring the dull pain that spreads through my body from the movement and get a good look at my surroundings. I’m in the middle of the forest. What happened to the battle? I was fighting Zahtri. Where is he?

Standing up, I spin in a circle looking for anything that can tell me what happened or where I am. There’s absolutely nothing. How did I get here?

I stretch out my muscles, and I don’t even try to keep in my pained cry as I move. My back is killing me. What the heck happened to me?

I pause. Zahtri. Zahtri did this to me. He…what did he do? He did something.

I was calling my magic to me. I was going to attack him, but he got to me first. He hit me with some form of magic, but how does that explain how I got here? How did I get to this part of the forest…alone?

Why do I still have more questions and no way to find answers?

Well, this just sucks. How long was I even unconscious?

I push my magic through my body, trying to heal the rest of my injuries before I attempt to go back to the clearing. I don’t know what I’ll find back there, so I need to be prepared. There’s a multitude of scenarios that could play out or are already playing out.

I take a few steps forward. There’s literally nothing but trees around me. The forest is quiet. Like so many other times I’ve been in a forest recently, it’s too quiet. I don’t hear any birds chirping or flying around. There are no animals scurrying along the fallen leaves on the ground. The sound of insects flapping their wings and buzzing through the air is nonexistent. There isn’t a breeze rustling the leaves together. It’s silent. A forest is supposed to be full of life. Not silent.

I walk over to a fallen tree branch and sit down, letting my magic run its course. I can feel myself being healed as I wait. I’ll remain here for a few more minutes and then I’ll go back. No matter what, I need to get back. I need to see what has happened while I was out.

While I heal, I continue to scan the forest. I have a feeling that my own magic brought me here, but why this spot? What is so special about this area? The ache in my body is slowly dissipating. It doesn’t hurt to move anymore, but I know that fighting or continuous use will cause it to return. My eyes move to the right and linger on a rather large oak tree.

I push myself off the log and slowly walk toward the tree. As I get closer to it, I see something carved a few feet off the ground into the bark. Stopping in front of it, I see a heart. Though faded, it looks like the letters SW and LW. I wonder who carved them there…what was their story?

I’m about to step back when an unfamiliar warm feeling spreads through me. Love and…happiness? This is different from the feelings I’m usually around. This is an old feeling. I feel all the pain leave me. All the unease and uncertainty is gone. I feel confident. I feel prepared.

I don’t know who those people were, but they have definitely helped me. They gave me courage. I’m finally ready to end this.

I’m ready to fight.

I’m now confident in my abilities and know that I can do this.

Closing my eyes, I focus on the clearing. I think about Colton and Liam. I think about my family. I don’t know if this will work. I’ve never attempted to actually transport myself somewhere before. Usually my magic just…takes me where I need to be.

I push my magic out and spiral it around me. I don’t know how much magic it’ll take to go back there. I close my eyes and concentrate on the magic as it moves through the air. Creating a vortex around me, I start raising my hands. For some reason, extending my hands seems to work for me.

Thinking about my family, I feel a shift in the air. Pushing more out, my body tenses and starts to tighten as my magic tries to listen to me. Transportation is not one of my powers, so I have no idea how long this could take. A familiar sharpness spreads through my torso. My airways constrict as if someone has reached into my chest and squeezed my lungs. My legs and arms feel like jello and I feel myself being pulled backward. I keep my eyes closed as I move through the air. Concentrating on the clearing, I wait until I feel myself stop moving.